THE IMAMS GO TO SCHOOL

de Kaouther BEN HANIA

75 minutes, 2010

Production : Who’Z Prod, 03 Productions / France

They are apprentice imams at France’s biggest mosque, but now they have to learn secularism as well, to conform with the French state policy of modernising Islam. Of all the universities approached, only one volunteered to run such a course: the Catholic Institute of Paris. So, for the first time in the republic, in addition to their usual curriculum French student imams will be given a year’s training in secularism by Catholics.

Having done business studies, followed by training as a film-maker at the School of Arts and Cinema in Tunis, Kaouther BEN HANIA went to the Femis summer school in 2004 where she made her first documentary. In 2005 she did a continuing education course in script writing, also at the Femis. In 2006 she made “Moi, ma soeur et la chose”, a short film shown at many festivals. From 2006 to 2007 she worked for the Al Jazeera Documentary Channel at Qatar.